Written Answers Monday 26 March 2007

Scottish Executive

Alcohol and Drug Misuse

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the findings of the stock-taking exercise of alcohol and drug action teams.

Cathy Jamieson: The stock-taking exercise of alcohol and drug action teams will report to ministers in May and we intend to publish findings once we have considered them.

Compulsory Purchase Orders

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities may use compulsory purchase orders to buy land owned by NHS Scotland for the sites of new schools.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Education (Scotland) Act 1980 and the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 do not contain provisions which would authorise the use of compulsory purchase powers by local authorities on land owned by Scottish ministers used for the provision of healthcare services by NHSScotland.

Digital Technology

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to provide broadband access to locations defined as "not-spots" and what financial provision will be made for this purpose.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive has already allocated £5 million funding to extend broadband coverage where it is currently unavailable.

  We have now agreed with BT that they will increase broadband availability in at least 20 exchanges which have capacity constraints, and this will extend broadband coverage to more businesses and households across Scotland. This is being achieved using some of the £1.5 million savings from our existing BT contract.

  An additional £3.5 million has been allocated to support solutions for "not-spot" locations, and we are currently prioritising areas according to known demand as well as the costs of potential solutions. We are in discussion with the industry and are engaging with potential suppliers and broadband users in the "out of reach" clusters to ensure an appropriately designed final approach. Delivery will take place next financial year.

Digital Technology

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will take steps to provide broadband access to Drimnin; what factors it considers to be relevant in reaching a decision on this issue; whether cost should be a factor, and what its estimate is for the (a) capital and (b) revenue costs for broadband users in the area.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive is aware of the broadband access issue in Drimnin and confirms that it is being considered as part of our wider policy approach on the reach issue. We will consider all relevant factors, including the levels of known unmet demand as well as the cost and value for money aspects of providing a solution. We are not currently in a position to estimate the specific capital and revenue costs for potential broadband users in this area.

Drug Misuse

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug users entered treatment in Stirling in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The number of new individual patients/clients reported to the Scottish Drug Misuse Database for the Stirling Council area over the past five years were as follows:

  

 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 101
 101
 127
 103
 159



  Source: ISD Scotland (SMR 24).

  Figures for the city of Stirling are not available separately.

Drug Misuse

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug treatment and testing orders have been issued in relevant local authority areas.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is given in table 57 of the statistical bulletin Criminal Justice Social Work Statistics, 2005-06 published by the Scottish Executive in January 2007, a copy of which is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41705).

Drug Misuse

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals were charged with possession of (a) heroin, (b) cocaine, (c) crack cocaine, (d) ecstasy and (e) cannabis in each police board area in each year since 1999, showing year-on-year percentage changes.

Cathy Jamieson: The statistics held centrally on recorded crime do not show the number of charges, nor is it possible to break down the drug offences by the type of drug involved. The available information is shown in the following tables.

  Number of Crimes of Possession Recorded by Police Force Area from 1999-2000 to 2005-06

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Central
806
974
1,217
1,505
1,536
1,375
1,429


Dumfries and Galloway
332
299
331
417
561
593
663


Fife
796
838
1,057
1,265
1,344
1,301
1,392


Grampian
1,736
1,601
2,050
2,345
2,177
2,309
2,522


Lothian and Borders
3,415
3,425
3,722
4,366
4,047
3,934
4,204


Northern
1,000
935
1,338
1,330
1,486
1,422
1,818


Strathclyde
12,453
13,241
14,934
17,390
19,023
18,721
19,868


Tayside
1,238
1,157
1,539
1,892
2,289
2,613
2,544


All Scotland
21,776
22,470
26,188
30,510
32,463
32,268
34,440



  Annual Increase in the Number of Crimes of Possession Recorded by Police Force Area from 2000-01 to 2005-06

  

 
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Central
20.8
24.9
23.7
2.1
-10.5
3.9


Dumfries and Galloway
-9.9
10.7
26.0
34.5
5.7
11.8


Fife
5.3
26.1
19.7
6.2
-3.2
7.0


Grampian
-7.8
28.0
14.4
-7.2
6.1
9.2


Lothian and Borders
0.3
8.7
17.3
-7.3
-2.8
6.9


Northern
-6.5
43.1
-0.6
11.7
-4.3
27.8


Strathclyde
6.3
12.8
16.4
9.4
-1.6
6.1


Tayside
-6.5
33.0
22.9
21.0
14.2
-2.6


All Scotland
3.2
16.5
16.5
6.4
-0.6
6.7



  Number of Crimes of Possession with Intent to Supply Recorded by Police Force Area from 1999-2000 to 2005-06

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Central
291
495
631
508
543
551
585


Dumfries and Galloway
279
194
250
345
426
332
274


Fife
386
506
623
657
544
680
555


Grampian
584
567
724
889
594
695
731


Lothian and Borders
1,304
1,767
1,912
1,948
1,677
1,896
1,884


Northern
377
235
353
294
435
287
388


Strathclyde
4,333
4,710
4,937
4,623
4,293
3,820
4,124


Tayside
478
550
700
676
772
817
752


All Scotland
8,032
9,024
10,130
9,940
9,284
9,078
9,293



  Annual Increase in the Number of Crimes Possession with Intent to Supply Recorded by Police Force Area  from 2000-01 to 2005-06

  

 
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Central
70.1
27.5
-19.5
6.9
1.5
6.2


Dumfries and Galloway
-30.5
28.9
38.0
23.5
-22.1
-17.5


Fife
31.1
23.1
5.5
-17.2
25.0
-18.4


Grampian
-2.9
27.7
22.8
-33.2
17.0
5.2


Lothian and Borders
35.5
8.2
1.9
-13.9
13.1
-0.6


Northern
-37.7
50.2
-16.7
48.0
-34.0
35.2


Strathclyde
8.7
4.8
-6.4
-7.1
-11.0
8.0


Tayside
15.1
27.3
-3.4
14.2
5.8
-8.0


All Scotland
12.4
12.3
-1.9
-6.6
-2.2
2.4



  Total Number of Crimes of Possession and Possession with Intent to Supply Recorded by Police Force Area from  1999-2000 to 2005-06

  

 
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Central
1,097
1,469
1,848
2,013
2,079
1,926
2,014


Dumfries and Galloway
611
493
581
762
987
925
937


Fife
1,182
1,344
1,680
1,922
1,888
1,981
1,947


Grampian
2,320
2,168
2,774
3,234
2,771
3,004
3,253


Lothian and Borders
4,719
5,192
5,634
6,314
5,724
5,830
6,088


Northern
1,377
1,170
1,691
1,624
1,921
1,709
2,206


Strathclyde
16,786
17,951
19,871
22,013
23,316
22,541
23,992


Tayside
1,716
1,707
2,239
2,568
3,061
3,430
3,296


All Scotland
29,808
31,494
36,318
40,450
41,747
41,346
43,733



  Annual Increase in the Number of Crimes of Possession and Possession with Intent to Supply Recorded by Police Force Area from 2000-01 to 2005-06

  

 
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06


Central
33.9
25.8
8.9
3.3
-7.4
4.6


Dumfries and Galloway
-19.3
17.8
31.2
29.5
-6.3
1.3


Fife
13.7
25.0
14.4
-1.8
4.9
-1.7


Grampian
-6.6
28.0
16.6
-14.3
8.4
8.3


Lothian and Borders
10.0
8.5
12.1
-9.3
1.9
4.4


Northern
-15.0
44.5
-4.0
18.3
-11.0
29.1


Strathclyde
6.9
10.7
10.8
5.9
-3.3
6.4


Tayside
-0.5
31.2
14.7
19.2
12.1
-3.9


All Scotland
5.7
15.3
11.4
3.2
-1.0
5.8

Drug Misuse

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the findings of the review of the role of methadone in treatment, announced by the First Minister in March 2006.

Cathy Jamieson: The findings of the Scottish Executive’s review of methadone in drug treatment will be published once we have seen all reports and made our conclusions. I expect the findings to be presented to Parliament by the end of June 2007.

Drug Misuse

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish the findings of the Bates funding review of drug treatment options.

Cathy Jamieson: In September 2005, I commissioned Peter Bates, Chair of NHS Tayside, to undertake a confidential study to provide a snapshot of "where we are now" in terms of delivering on the Executive’s drugs strategy. It did not look at funding of drug treatment options. The findings of the exercise helped inform our thinking around the drugs element of the terms of reference for the stock-taking exercise of alcohol and drug action teams which is currently underway.

Enterprise

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new companies were registered in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) rateable value.

Nicol Stephen: Data on the number of VAT registrations are released annually by the Small Business Service, an agency of the Department for Trade and Industry. These figures are used to monitor the number of business start-ups. These figures do not account for all business activity as only companies with a turnover above the VAT threshold are required to register.

  The following table shows figures on the number of VAT registrations in Scotland broken down by local authority area for the period 1999 to 2005. This data is not available broken down by rateable value.

  Number of VAT Registrations by Local Authority, 1999-2005

  

 Local Authority
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005


 Aberdeen City
 570
 590
 525
 610
 545
 520
 580


 Aberdeenshire
 555
 645
 590
 600
 740
 670
 710


 Angus
 210
 185
 195
 175
 205
 215
 215


 Argyll and Bute
 220
 200
 225
 230
 230
 275
 220


 Clackmannanshire
 75
 75
 80
 80
 100
 90
 80


 Dumfries and Galloway
 315
 285
 300
 320
 350
 345
 345


 Dundee City
 245
 275
 250
 240
 245
 265
 255


 East Ayrshire
 230
 190
 215
 215
 205
 210
 240


 East Dunbartonshire
 200
 225
 205
 185
 180
 215
 190


 East Lothian
 200
 190
 175
 180
 215
 200
 190


 East Renfrewshire
 185
 175
 165
 155
 180
 180
 170


 Edinburgh, City of
 1,365
 1,465
 1,370
 1,275
 1,410
 1,445
 1,390


 Eilean Siar
 60
 40
 55
 55
 65
 65
 65


 Falkirk
 265
 235
 225
 265
 265
 305
 295


 Fife
 665
 600
 580
 610
 680
 665
 555


 Glasgow City
 1,685
 1,620
 1,585
 1,505
 1,540
 1,525
 1,470


 Highland
 570
 525
 510
 595
 620
 670
 575


 Inverclyde
 95
 110
 105
 115
 140
 120
 115


 Midlothian
 145
 145
 140
 145
 170
 150
 160


 Moray
 145
 165
 155
 140
 180
 170
 165


 North Ayrshire
 230
 235
 205
 205
 230
 225
 210


 North Lanarkshire
 490
 510
 525
 520
 595
 555
 570


 Orkney Islands
 60
 65
 60
 55
 50
 60
 70


 Perth and Kinross
 390
 390
 375
 375
 400
 395
 360


 Renfrewshire
 345
 310
 325
 330
 365
 355
 325


 Scottish Borders
 325
 265
 260
 300
 315
 300
 285


 Shetland Islands
 80
 65
 40
 60
 70
 60
 65


 South Ayrshire
 250
 255
 245
 245
 270
 270
 240


 South Lanarkshire
 605
 600
 640
 655
 665
 665
 660


 Stirling
 265
 255
 240
 260
 300
 270
 270


 West Dunbartonshire
 125
 115
 95
 105
 125
 120
 125


 West Lothian
 345
 345
 330
 325
 325
 405
 370


 Total
 11,505
 11,345
 10,980
 11,130
 11,980
 11,980
 11,525



  Source: Small Business Service, DTI.

Enterprise

Ms Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many companies ceased trading in each year since 1999, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) rateable value.

Nicol Stephen: Data on the number of VAT de-registrations are released annually by the Small Business Service, an agency of the Department for Trade and Industry. These figures are used to monitor the number of business closures.

  Not all VAT de-registrations are due to business closures, in a minority of cases businesses de-register because turnover has fallen below the registration threshold. Not all business closures should be interpreted as business failures - it is estimated that only around one in four closures involve bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings.

  The following table shows figures on the number of VAT de-registrations in Scotland broken down by local authority area for the period 1999 to 2005. This data is not available broken down by rateable value.

  Number of VAT De-Registrations by Local Authority, 1999-2005

  

 Local Authority
 1999
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005


 Aberdeen City
 580
 660
 710
 645
 610
 590
 490


 Aberdeenshire
 620
 640
 705
 655
 635
 645
 580


 Angus
 210
 195
 205
 185
 200
 190
 175


 Argyll and Bute
 235
 230
 220
 195
 215
 230
 205


 Clackmannanshire
 65
 60
 75
 85
 55
 75
 75


 Dumfries and Galloway
 325
 315
 300
 275
 290
 300
 315


 Dundee City
 250
 240
 255
 245
 225
 245
 225


 East Ayrshire
 205
 200
 195
 195
 225
 205
 185


 East Dunbartonshire
 205
 225
 180
 185
 205
 200
 170


 East Lothian
 170
 155
 170
 185
 170
 175
 170


 East Renfrewshire
 205
 160
 190
 180
 165
 195
 165


 Edinburgh, City of
 1,360
 1,235
 1,245
 1,285
 1,380
 1,195
 1,210


 Eilean Siar
 65
 75
 60
 80
 65
 60
 75


 Falkirk
 215
 215
 225
 220
 215
 265
 210


 Fife
 610
 595
 540
 560
 600
 615
 545


 Glasgow City
 1,620
 1,580
 1,580
 1,690
 1,630
 1,510
 1,390


 Highland
 530
 570
 555
 520
 560
 620
 595


 Inverclyde
 100
 115
 95
 100
 110
 115
 85


 Midlothian
 115
 100
 125
 110
 120
 125
 115


 Moray
 160
 135
 160
 150
 165
 175
 165


 North Ayrshire
 210
 210
 215
 200
 195
 205
 180


 North Lanarkshire
 440
 450
 430
 465
 420
 445
 415


 Orkney Islands
 85
 70
 80
 55
 55
 80
 75


 Perth and Kinross
 365
 345
 390
 385
 350
 380
 335


 Renfrewshire
 325
 305
 330
 320
 325
 310
 295


 Scottish Borders
 250
 255
 250
 250
 270
 280
 280


 Shetland Islands
 45
 60
 45
 45
 60
 85
 105


 South Ayrshire
 230
 240
 235
 240
 210
 240
 215


 South Lanarkshire
 580
 535
 625
 550
 610
 565
 515


 Stirling
 225
 205
 215
 185
 235
 230
 225


 West Dunbartonshire
 110
 110
 95
 110
 75
 90
 85


 West Lothian
 275
 270
 250
 280
 290
 280
 300


 Total
 10,985
 10,755
 10,955
 10,820
 10,930
 10,920
 10,160



  Source: Small Business Service, DTI.

Enterprise

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what background checks are carried out on Scottish Enterprise Business Gateway’s business advisers.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what efforts are made to ensure that business advisers appointed by Scottish Enterprise for Business Gateway do not have a conflict of interest when helping or advising small companies.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how many business advisers were appointed by Scottish Enterprise for Business Gateway in each year since 1999.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Business Gateway business advisers were investigated by Scottish Enterprise for misconduct or conflict of interest in each year since 1999.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how many companies that had business advisers allocated to them through Scottish Enterprise Business Gateway subsequently employed those advisers as directors or owners in each year since 1999.

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been recorded by Scottish Enterprise about misconduct of Business Gateway business advisers in each year since 1999.

Allan Wilson: The administration of the Scottish Enterprise Business Gateway is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have therefore asked Scottish Enterprise’s chief executive to reply to you direct.

Fisheries

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many over-15-metre vessels were boarded by Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency officers in each of the last five years, also showing the nationality of each vessel.

Ross Finnie: The number and nationality of over 15 metre vessels boarded at sea by officers of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency in each of the last five years is given in the following table:

  

 
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006


UK
659
632
530
541
496


Germany
15
16
11
14
17


Denmark
84
62
28
9
11


Spain
52
31
24
48
42


France
66
45
47
50
38


Faroe
 
5
 
3
1


Eire
12
2
11
9
19


Norway
95
44
46
47
45


Poland
 
 
 
2
1


Russia
5
2
10
13
8


Netherlands
11
17
11
10
 


Portugal
 
 
1
1
 


Sweden
4
1
9
1
 


Belgium
2
 
1

Housing

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what procedures should be undertaken with respect to the eviction of a private tenant whose landlord has defaulted on the mortgage and the property has been repossessed.

Rhona Brankin: The lender may terminate the tenancy agreement. However, under the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988, for tenants covered by an assured or short assured tenancy, a sheriff may not consider proceedings for possession unless notice has been served on the tenant in accordance with section 19 of the act or the sheriff considers it reasonable to dispense with this requirement.

  The court is required under the 1988 act to grant possession where a lender is entitled to sell the property because the landlord has not abided by the conditions of the mortgage. This requirement only applies where the landlord gave the tenant notice in writing before the beginning of the tenancy that possession might be recovered on this ground, although the sheriff may still judge it reasonable to dispense with the requirement for notice.

  Further information about procedures for all private rented sector tenancies is available at: http://www.betterrentingscotland.com.

Housing

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) households and (b) children lived in overcrowded housing in each of the last five years, broken down by local authority area.

Rhona Brankin: Table 1 shows the percentage of Scottish households living in dwellings below the bedroom standard in each local authority area, and table 2 shows the percentage of children in Scotland who live in such households.

  Table 1 Scottish Households Living Below the Bedroom Standard by Local Authority Area

  

 
1999 and 2000
2001 and 2002
2003 and 2004


%
Base
%
Base
%
Base


Aberdeen City
3%
1,224
3%
1,280
3%
1,232


Aberdeenshire
2%
1,187
2%
1,230
2%
1,237


Angus
2%
637
2%
662
1%
628


Argyll and Bute
5%
576
2%
569
3%
551


Clackmannanshire
3%
587
3%
547
3%
579


Dumfries and Galloway
2%
878
3%
822
2%
815


Dundee City
3%
781
4%
868
2%
866


East Ayrshire
3%
676
2%
714
2%
696


East Dunbartonshire
1%
587
3%
608
2%
553


East Lothian
4%
585
1%
598
3%
549


East Renfrewshire
2%
494
2%
526
1%
580


Edinburgh, City of
4%
2,481
3%
2,374
3%
2,509


Eilean Siar
3%
658
3%
643
2%
549


Falkirk
3%
817
2%
790
1%
824


Fife
2%
1,895
2%
1,928
2%
2,083


Glasgow City
6%
3,136
5%
3,254
6%
3,294


Highland
1%
1,129
2%
1,208
1%
1,167


Inverclyde
7%
537
5%
529
4%
554


Midlothian
4%
612
4%
622
4%
561


Moray
2%
631
2%
614
1%
613


North Ayrshire
3%
822
2%
768
1%
752


North Lanarkshire
5%
1,617
5%
1,656
5%
1,758


Orkney Islands
1%
540
1%
649
2%
665


Perth and Kinross
3%
774
2%
747
3%
674


Renfrewshire
4%
951
4%
945
3%
1,000


Scottish Borders
2%
607
2%
642
2%
663


Shetland Islands
3%
561
2%
625
1%
653


South Ayrshire
2%
675
3%
685
3%
624


South Lanarkshire
5%
1,602
4%
1,608
3%
1,587


Stirling
2%
617
2%
601
1%
612


West Dunbartonshire
5%
535
4%
531
5%
509


West Lothian
2%
817
2%
796
2%
885



  Table 2: Scottish Children Living Below the Bedroom Standard by Local Authority Area

  

 
1999 and 2000
2001 and 2002
2003 and 2004


%
Base
%
Base
%
Base


Aberdeen City
12%
477
15%
454
9%
491


Aberdeenshire
7%
741
6%
700
5%
628


Angus
6%
326
8%
310
4%
240


Argyll and Bute
16%
278
9%
269
9%
247


Clackmannanshire
8%
317
6%
266
9%
291


Dumfries and Galloway
10%
417
12%
406
4%
341


Dundee City
10%
295
16%
355
8%
302


East Ayrshire
9%
323
10%
350
7%
329


East Dunbartonshire
4%
316
6%
322
6%
282


East Lothian
9%
292
6%
313
10%
266


East Renfrewshire
5%
302
3%
285
4%
351


Edinburgh, City of
12%
993
11%
906
13%
950


Eilean Siar
11%
294
11%
267
6%
224


Falkirk
10%
433
7%
395
4%
361


Fife
7%
939
10%
930
8%
983


Glasgow City
21%
1,415
17%
1,336
22%
1,292


Highland
5%
564
8%
593
5%
575


Inverclyde
25%
268
15%
241
8%
218


Midlothian
14%
349
11%
362
15%
308


Moray
7%
309
6%
329
3%
311


North Ayrshire
9%
405
9%
356
5%
354


North Lanarkshire
15%
933
15%
945
15%
833


Orkney Islands
6%
261
4%
269
7%
311


Perth and Kinross
8%
346
7%
325
10%
272


Renfrewshire
13%
446
15%
409
14%
434


Scottish Borders
7%
294
7%
278
5%
287


Shetland Islands
7%
379
6%
372
6%
302


South Ayrshire
8%
331
11%
309
14%
251


South Lanarkshire
14%
792
11%
821
8%
766


Stirling
6%
296
6%
275
5%
277


West Dunbartonshire
12%
250
10%
207
16%
236


West Lothian
5%
467
5%
478
8%
444



  Source: Scottish Household Survey, 1999-2004.

  Notes:

  1. The base numbers show the sample sizes of the population participating in the survey but cannot be used to calculate how many respondents gave a certain answer. The bases in table 1 refer to the number of households, and in Table 2 to the number of children in the household.

  2. Year-on-year changes should be interpreted with caution as the statistics can fluctuate from year to year due to sampling variability and relatively small sample sizes. This may be a particular issue for table 2 where the sampling unit is the household but the unit of analysis is the number of children in the household.

  3. The results are given for two-year sweeps as the survey is not designed to be representative for all sub-Scotland areas for a single year.

  4. Figures for 2006 have not yet been published.

  5. The bedroom standard represents the minimum number of bedrooms required for a household based on the assumption that a separate bedroom is required for:

  
each cohabiting couple;
  any other person aged 21 years or over;
  each pair of young persons of the same sex aged 10 to 20 years, and
  each pair of children under 10 years (regardless of sex).


  Unpaired young persons aged 10 to 20 are paired with a child under 10 of the same sex if possible or allocated a separate bedroom. Any unpaired children under 10 are also allocated a separate bedroom.

Justice

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to extend tagging supervision in the community.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive has made provision for the use of electronic monitoring across a wide range of options, including as a condition of licence as imposed by the Parole Board, as a condition of probation or a drug treatment and testing order imposed by the courts, to support a restriction of liberty order imposed by the courts and as a condition of bail in particular circumstances in four pilot courts. Electronic monitoring also supports the early release of certain short term prisoners as part of a home detention curfew licence. In addition, provisions in the Custodial Sentences and Weapons Bill will enable Scottish ministers to impose electronic monitoring as a condition of a community licence for the new combined sentence.

Justice

Campbell Martin (West of Scotland) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether an offence of "negligent misstatement" exists in Scots law.

Cathy Jamieson: There is no offence of "negligent misstatement" in Scots law. Whether the making of a false statement constitutes an offence, such as the common law offence of fraud, will depend on the facts and circumstances of a particular case.

  The question of whether criminal proceedings are appropriate in any case is a matter for the Lord Advocate who cannot raise criminal proceedings unless there is sufficient reliable and credible evidence and it is in the public interest to prosecute.

Justice

Campbell Martin (West of Scotland) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what offence or offences would be committed by a Scottish company that, in bidding for a publicly-funded contract, misrepresented the status and financial standing of the company and deliberately made false statements (a) about being a subsidiary of a major overseas organisation, (b) when naming supporting referees, (c) when naming people and companies supposedly supporting the company’s bid and (d) when stating company equity and naming shareholders.

Cathy Jamieson: Depending on the facts and circumstances of an individual case, conduct such as that referred to may constitute part of the common law offence of fraud, which requires a practical result attributable to the misrepresentation, or one of a number of offences under the Companies Acts.

  The question of whether criminal proceedings are appropriate in any case is a matter for the Lord Advocate, who cannot raise criminal proceedings unless there is sufficient reliable and credible evidence and it is in the public interest to prosecute.

Justice

Campbell Martin (West of Scotland) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a prisoner who is domiciled in Scotland but is serving a custodial sentence in an English prison can, on reaching the point in their sentence at which they qualify for home detention curfew (HDC), return to their home in Scotland to serve the remainder of their sentence under HDC and what the reason is for the position.

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive is currently working with the Home Office to put the necessary legislative, operational and contractual requirements in place to introduce reciprocal transfer arrangements for certain eligible prisoners subject to home detention curfew and plans to do so by the end of the year.

Land

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether surplus NHS Scotland land must be sold to the highest bidder or whether benefits to the community, other than revenue, may be taken into account.

Mr Andy Kerr: It is a mandatory requirement of the NHSScotland Property Transactions Handbook that NHSScotland bodies, when disposing of surplus property on behalf of Scottish ministers, do so at a price and on other conditions which are the best which can be obtained at the time of disposal. This normally involves advertising the property on the open market to ensure that the full planning potential of the property is realised.

  There are occasions when property can be sold at a price other than at full open market value; this is possible when there is a clearly identified health-related interest (a person or organisation providing healthcare, social care services or some other form of community care complimentary to the services provided by a NHSScotland Body) which, if that interest acquired the property would offer significant financial or other advantages to NHSScotland. In these circumstances NHSScotland Bodies must carry out an appraisal of the benefits which might justify selling the property preferentially rather than establishing its full planning potential and concluding a sale following exposure on the open market.

  Staff houses are also sold at discounted prices as NHSScotland bodies comply with the terms of the Governments right to buy legislation although tenants of such houses do not have a statutory right to purchase.

  There is no requirement on NHSScotland bodies to consider wider benefits to the community when disposing of surplus property, although as a matter of course NHSScotland bodies adhere to the Executives requirement to notify all other Departments, NDPBs and related bodies of the availability of surplus property prior to its exposure on the open market in order to ensure that Scottish ministers are not put in the position of competing on the open market to acquire for one function property which is being sold because it is surplus to NHSScotland. Procedures have recently been put in place to provide advance notification in such instances to enable other departments, NDPBs and related bodies to consider not only whether they have an interest in the property but also that they have the financial resources to complete a purchase. Where a positive expression of interest is lodged there is a process in place to enable the purchase price to be determined which gives both parties the opportunity to present submissions to an independent expert whose decision is binding on both parties.

Land

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what regulations relating to the sale of land owned by NHS Scotland would have to be amended to allow factors other than the size of the bid to be taken into account in any sale of such land.

Mr Andy Kerr: To enable Scottish ministers to reflect factors other than the best consideration when disposing of land used for the provision of healthcare services by NHSScotland would require primary legislation and not the amendment to existing regulations.

  Section 79 of the 1978 act gives Scottish ministers the power to dispose of land which is no longer required for the purposes under the 1978 act but the act places no further obligations on Scottish ministers regarding the disposal of NHSScotland property and there is no power to make regulations concerning the disposal process or for other factors to be taken into account as part of that process. Consequently if it was intended that Scottish ministers powers to dispose of NHSScotland property should be curtailed in some way then an amendment to the 1978 act would be needed.

Police

Richard Lochhead (Moray) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many operational police stations there were in each police force area in each of the last eight years.

Cathy Jamieson: This information is not held centrally. The staffing of police stations is an operational matter for chief constables. Force call centres are contactable by the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Prison Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of prisoners sentenced for crimes involving violence have been granted home detention curfews in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  Home Detention Curfew (HDC) was introduced on 3 July 2006. There are therefore no figures to report before this date.

  HDC is available only to short-term convicted prisoners serving sentences of three months or more and less than four years. Current evidence of serious violence and/or previous convictions for serious violence would indicate a significant risk to the public, and as a result, the SPS would be unlikely to release such prisoners on HDC.

Prison Service

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who appoints members of the Scottish Prison Service Board and what criteria are applied in the selection process; for how long members are appointed, and why there are no representatives of the Prison Officers Association or the Prison Governors Association on the board.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  The SPS Board comprises Executive and Non-Executive Directors. Executive Directors are Civil Servants and as such are selected in line with the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Code (www.civilservicecommissioners.gov.uk). To date these have been on a permanent basis. Non-Executive Directors are appointed by Scottish ministers as per the SPS Framework document (www.sps.gov.uk) on various lengths of fixed-term contracts. The primary role of the non-executive directors is to bring experience of other sectors to the board.

Radioactive Waste

Nora Radcliffe (Gordon) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-23582 by Ross Finnie on 28 February 2006, when it will publish the outcome of the review of the policy for management of solid low level radioactive waste.

Ross Finnie: I am pleased to announce that the review by Government (the UK Government and the devolved administrations) of the long-term management of the UK’s solid low level radioactive waste (LLW), has been completed and that the revised policy statement is being published today. Copies of the policy statement will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 42382). Copies are also available on the internet at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/Waste/16293/176481 .

  The public consultation on the review of solid LLW management policy was published on 28 February 2006. It parallels and complements the on-going work Government is carrying out on the policy for the management of higher activity radioactive wastes under our Managing Radioactive Waste Safely programme, following recommendations made by the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) in July 2006.

  As I made clear when I announced the consultation, unlike the higher activity wastes, paths for the long-term management and disposal of LLW already exist but we recognised that there were problems which needed to be dealt with in that:

  with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA’s) decommissioning and clean-up programme underway, there will be greatly increased arisings of LLW over the coming decades, and this is already starting to happen;

  there will be insufficient capacity at the national LLW disposal facility near Drigg in Cumbria to deal with this waste, and the future capacity of this facility is currently also under review;

  while other disposal routes for certain types of LLW have been used (e.g. by disposal on or near the site of arising, by controlled and uncontrolled burial to landfill and by incineration), the availability of these other routes has diminished in recent years, and

  finding small-scale treatment and disposal routes for the least radioactive LLW, which are very important for the non-nuclear sectors (hospitals, research and education establishments, and the oil and gas industry) is proving increasingly difficult.

  The revised policy recognises that much LLW has very low levels of radioactivity and can be disposed of in a variety of ways while posing a negligible risk to human health or the environment. The revised policy will:

  allow greater flexibility in the management of the wide range of LLW that already exists, and will arise in future from the NDA’s activities and other nuclear and non-nuclear industry arisings;

  require the necessary level of safety to be maintained through the use of a risk informed approach, and the preparation of plans and safety cases that are acceptable to the regulatory bodies (including the Environment Agencies and the Health and Safety Executive);

  seek to minimise the amount of LLW for disposal by application of the waste hierarchy applied in other areas of waste management – avoidance of generation, minimisation, reuse and recycling – prior to disposal;

  emphasise the need for effective consultation and public involvement in the development and delivery of LLW waste management plans;

  make the NDA responsible for development of a UK-wide strategy for the management of nuclear industry LLW, including the identification of the need for additional LLW disposal capacity and facilities, and

  initiate the first steps towards development of a UK-wide strategy for the management of non-nuclear LLW. The first step in this will be for Government, in conjunction with the NDA, to undertake a study which will give a clear picture of arisings across the UK.

  The policy has been developed with stakeholders, including two national stakeholder workshops held during 2005: the first to discuss the key issues; the second to discuss a first draft of the consultation document which consequently was revised extensively. There were discussions with stakeholders during the public consultation period and subsequently on issues raised in responses received. The policy statement issued today reflects that engagement.

Recycling

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of household waste was recycled in each local authority area (a) five years ago and (b) at the most recent date for which figures are available.

Ross Finnie: The following table details the proportion of household waste recycled and composted in each local authority area. The figures for 2001-02 may not take account of material collected for recycling or composting which may have been rejected.

  

Local Authority
% Household Waste 
Recycled/Composted 2001-02
[Source: SEPA 2001-2002]
% Household Waste Recycled
/Composted 2005-06
[Source: SEPA 2005-06]


Aberdeen 
6.5
19.7


Aberdeenshire 
5.6
16.3


Angus
14.3
35.4


Argyll and Bute
9.8
25.4


Clackmannanshire
3.9
40.1


Dumfries and Galloway
3.1
11.1


Dundee
5.7
31.5


East Ayrshire
2.4
33.8


East Dunbartonshire
9.0
24.7


East Lothian
6.4
29.3


East Renfrewshire
7.0
32.4


Edinburgh
5.6
22.1


Eilean Siar
3.7
12.7


Falkirk
6.0
30.9


Fife
2.0
32.2


Glasgow
3.6
12.3


Highland
2.8
24.6


Inverclyde
4.1
21.7


Midlothian
3.9
23.1


Moray
4.4
28.7


North Ayrshire
6.6
30.4


North Lanarkshire
3.1
29.6


Orkney
22.2
17.2


Perth and Kinross
16.3
34.7


Renfrewshire
5.2
25.3


Scottish Borders
12.8
17.8


Shetland Islands
10.5
9.6


South Ayrshire
4.7
33.5


South Lanarkshire
7.1
31.5


Stirling
11.9
34.6


West Dunbartonshire
5.7
29.7


West Lothian
7.0
27.2

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current employment status is of the Scottish Criminal Record Office fingerprint experts who were the subject of investigation in relation to the misidentification of Shirley McKie’s fingerprint.

Cathy Jamieson: The employment status of individuals is a matter for them and their employers. I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-30252 on 18 December 2006. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will place in the Scottish Parliamentary Information Centre all information that it received in relation to tail docking, including copies of any advice notes, aides memoire or notes of meetings held following a meeting in February or March 2007 with representatives of the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association.

Ross Finnie: All responses to the consultation papers issued by the Scottish Executive which dealt with tail docking have been placed in the Scottish Executive library except where respondents specifically asked for their responses to be treated confidentially. There are no advice notes, aides memoire or notes of meetings held following the meeting with representatives of the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association which took place on 30 January 2007. There was no meeting with representatives of the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association in February or March 2007.